Environmental justice group holds health clinic in San Bernardino

SAN BERNARDINO -- An environmental justice group is claiming an important victory after a mobile health clinic tested and treated 20 Westside residents for many health problems, including some the group thinks are caused by the nearby BNSF rail yard.

The health clinic, supplied by Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, was one of the first things people asked for when the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice met with them three years ago, said Penny Newman, executive director and founder of the Riverside-based group.

"This is because of you," Newman told a crowd of 25 community members and others interested in Westside health. "The residents for the first time are seeing that something being done, and that in itself is a victory. "

The group got involved in the area because they believe emissions from the BNSF rail yard are causing ailments from cancer to asthma, something an ongoing study is on its way to demonstrating, said Sam Soret, chair of the Department of Environmental Health and Geoinformatics Sciences at Loma Linda University.

Soret's study involves comparing asthma rates among students at Ramona Alessandro Elementary School, half a mile from the rail yard, to South Tamarind Elementary School in Fontana.

"It'll be a few months until we finish analysis and submit to (the Air Quality Management District), but I can say now that there are difference in asthma risk between South Tamarind and Ramona Alessandro that are difficult to explain away. "

BNSF spokeswoman Lena Kent said she doubted the objectivity of Soret's study because of his close ties to the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice - staff members helped gather information, and Soret was there Monday - and said there are many sources of pollution in the area.